The present invention relates to the problem of wear of the copper commutators of fuel pumps within fuel tanks associated with the engines, motors, furnaces, etc., powered by fuels such as gasoline.
It has long been realized that elemental sulfur, hydrogen sulfide, mercaptans and other sulfur compounds contained in hydrocarbon fuels, kerosene, jet fuel, heating oil, etc., are corrosive and damaging to metal equipment, particularly copper and copper alloys. The elemental sulfur and sulfur compounds may be present in varying concentrations, as refined, and/or may be incorporated as contaminants picked up during transport of the fuels through pipelines previously used to transport sour hydrocarbon streams such as petroleum crudes which contained high amounts of elemental sulfur, hydrogen sulfide, mercaptans and/or other sulfur compounds.
However, the problems of copper corrosion and in-tank copper commutator wear are distinct and independent problems. In-tank copper commutator wear is a fairly complex mechanism which is not solved by known treatments of fuels to reduce their copper corrosion properties, as commonly determined by the ASTM D-130 copper corrosion test